By Darren Boyle for MailOnline

The incident in South Shields was filmed by a witness late on Thursday
Three officers are alleged to have used excessive force during an arrest
A witness claimed the officers kicked the suspect during the fracas
Northumbria police said they have seen the video and are investigating

Northumbria police are investigating claims some of its officers may have been too violent during the arrest of a man after video of the incident emerged on social media.

The footage, which has been viewed almost 53,000 times, shows the incident on Stanhope Road in South Shields late on Thursday night.

It was initially shared on Facebook, alongside the caption: ‘This was right over the road from my house in South Shields early hours of this morning.

‘In the first video he gets kicked in the head, and in the second he gets the back of his neck kneeled on and he passes out.

‘There was really no need for this, ended up with a riot van and 3 cop cars for one lad.

‘No wonder the police have a bad name.’

The clip triggered conflicting views on Facebook.

One viewer commented: ‘Police are getting a really bad name.

‘They should have not done what they did… but they’re not all like that.’

Another viewer replied: ‘Probably a young daft lad drunk, no need for this he’s on the floor there’s three of them what’s he gonna do?’

A spokesperson for Northumbria Police said: ‘We have been made aware of a video on Facebook involving our police officers attending an incident in South Shields .

‘We are very concerned about what this video appears to show and would like to assure people we are taking action to identify those concerned and establish exactly what happened.

‘We are treating this very seriously, we expect our police officers to act with the utmost professionalism and we will take robust positive action against any wrongdoing.’

A police spokesman said: ‘We expect our police officers to act with the utmost professionalism’

IMAGES:

A resident overlooking the road heard the late night commotion who filmed it on his mobile phone.
Police in Northumbria are investigating an incident involving three officers in South Shields on Thursday night
An eyewitness heard the commotion and filmed the incident on his mobile phone before posting it online
The witness claimed the suspect was kicked and incapacitated by the three police officers on Thursday
Northumbria Police said they are aware of the video and are looking to identify the officers involved

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3716009/Police-probe-launched-officers-filmed-kicking-man-head-kneeling-neck-passes-out.html#ixzz4FuPzXfnd